Dentophobia

When I was a little girl, I had a peculiar problem. My teeth would not fall out.

When other little children would celebrate losing a tooth in kindergarten or 1st grade, my teeth stayed firmly in place. I was blessed with an extremely good "root system."

In the course of natural events, the permanent teeth would eventually begin growing in which made for a rather crowded mouth and since the cute little baby teeth weren't moving, it was determined by my dentist that the unwanted baby teeth would need to be "extracted."

I hate the word extracted.

And for many, many years, I really hated going to the dentist. It meant painful Novocaine shots and much wriggling and yanking and, well, I don't want to think about it anymore because it seriously is bringing butterflies to my stomach just typing these words.

In all my childhood years, I only lost TWO teeth the "normal way." Every other cute little baby tooth was "extracted." Along with several permanent teeth because of braces. And wisdom teeth, too. Yes, I developed a massive fear of dentists.

After I became an adult, I went to several dentists hoping to find the "perfect dentist" who I could be comfortable with. One day, I was inspired to ask a woman in my ward (who I knew was pretty particular) who her dentist was. That was when I discovered the husband and wife team of Gary and Sheri.

I explained my great fear to them. They did not mock me. They understood. With extreme gentleness they helped me overcome my dentophobia. I loved my dentists. I got to the point where a dental visit was a "non-event." I hardly gave it a thought. In the past, I would dread an upcoming visit for nearly two weeks, worrying about what would happen.

When we moved, I needed to find a new dentist. Much as I love Dr. Gary and Sheri, I really did not want to drive two hours each way to visit the dentist. After hearing about my mother's dentist, I decided to give him a try.

Last Wednesday morning, I saw my new dentist for the first time. When I am saying I woke up in the middle of the night in a near panic attack, I am not exaggerating. I did not sleep the rest of the night. All my old fears came back.

As I drove to his office, my heart was racing. I silently prayed that I would be OK and that I would like this dentist.

I'm happy to report that everyone was very friendly and kind. It may take two or three more visits to work up to the same level of trust I had with Gary and Sheri, but I think I may have found another dentist who I can trust.